Electromobility
The conversion of delivery fleet is in full swing
In growing numbers of Swiss cities, Swiss Post is fully electric in the delivery of letters and parcels. Around 7,300 electric vehicles are already saving thousands of tonnes of CO₂. With the ambitious goal of electrifying the entire delivery vehicle fleet by 2030, Swiss Post is pushing ahead consistently with the environmental transformation in logistics.
Swiss Post’s yellow delivery vans are part of the everyday cityscape, especially in the mornings, when Swiss Post employees are out delivering thousands of parcels every day. But in many places, something is different: no smell of exhaust fumes, no engine noise – the only sound is the quiet hum of the vehicles. And the bright yellow of the vehicles has also changed slightly, with green markings showing that they are emission-free.
Electric delivery in Swiss cities
The switch to electromobility is in full swing: in the cities of Bern, Zurich, Geneva, Winterthur, Thun and Uster all Swiss Post letter and parcel deliveries are fully electric. “This enables Swiss Post to save 3,200 tonnes of CO₂ annually. That’s equivalent to 400 car journeys around the world,” says Johannes Cramer, Head of Logistics Services. “The electrification of the vehicle fleet is an important step towards achieving Swiss Post’s ambitious climate targets.” Since August 2024, all deliveries in the city of Basel, and in some neighbouring municipalities such as Allschwil and Binningen, have also been made entirely with Swiss Post’s own electric vehicles. This means that Swiss Post serves a total of over 1.5 million households with electric vehicles every day.
In the cities of Bern, Zurich, Geneva, Winterthur, Thun and Uster alone, Swiss Post saves 3,200 tonnes of CO₂ annually.
Expansion of charging infrastructure progressing
At the Basel SBB location, Swiss Post has created a new charging infrastructure and adapted the building’s electrical system. Today, 142 of the 455 delivery offices across Switzerland are equipped with charging stations for electric vehicles. The expansion is continuing on an ongoing basis. In older buildings in particular, the infrastructure has to be adapted to cope with the higher current load. Similar investments are also planned at other locations, such as in Thun and Effretikon, where additional electric delivery vans came into operation at the end of 2024. “In 2025, we will reach an important milestone when Biel/Bienne, Lucerne, Lugano and other cities also switch completely to electric delivery,” says Johannes Cramer.
Around 1,300 delivery vans with electric drive systems
In addition to the electric scooters that Swiss Post has long been using to deliver letters and smaller parcels, around 1,300 delivery vans with electric drive systems are also in use – and the number is growing all the time. The target is for all deliveries in Switzerland to be fully electric from 2030 – from Geneva to Basel to Scuol. Specifically, this means that the delivery of around 76 million parcels and some 1.4 billion letters will then be environmentally friendly. A key element of Swiss Post’s electrification strategy is the use of electricity from 100 percent renewable energy sources from Switzerland.
Switzerland’s biggest electric fleet continues to grow
With 7,285 electric vehicles, Swiss Post currently operates Switzerland’s biggest electric fleet. This includes 6,009 electric scooters, 594 electric delivery vans and 682 other electric vehicles used for technical and logistical purposes. By 2030, Swiss Post plans to convert the entire fleet of 10,500 delivery vehicles to alternative drive systems. The number of kilometres covered by external transport partners will also become more sustainable: by 2030, five percent of this figure is expected to be covered with alternative drive systems, making a fifth of all kilometres covered fossil free.